Lawsuit seeking $225 million in damages against cemetery is filed

Another class action lawsuit emerged against Galilee Memorial Gardens on Thursday, this one seeking $225 million for the alleged mishandling of bodies.

Nahon, Saharovich and Trotz filed the suit in Circuit Court. In addition to Galilee, the Lambert family members and other associated businesses, the complaint also names several funeral homes, including R.S. Lewis and Sons, Family Mortuary, N.J. Ford and Sons and others.

Thursday's court action is the second lawsuit seeking class status for plaintiffs whose relatives were buried at the troubled Bartlett cemetery. The legal team of Howard Manis and Jimmy Blount filed a $100 million lawsuit against the business and two funeral homes.

The complaints are based on accusations of questionable practices regarding the handling of bodies at Galilee. Court documents state that owner Jemar Lambert, 38, directed employees to stack multiple caskets in single graves, crushing some of them to make room for more. There are questions about record keeping and lost bodies at the cemetery.

Lambert faces two sets of crimnal charges in connection with the Galilee operation. One is for theft over $60,000 for burying bodies on land adjacent cemetery that belongs to a trust, not Galilee. The second set, filed a month ago, charges Lambert with theft over $1,000 and abuse of a corpse. Those charges were based on the accusations of the cemetery owner's handling of caskets and treatment of bodies left for him to bury.

Lambert remains in jail without bond and the cemetery is closed. The state has been granted receivership of the cemetery and will oversee untangling the problems there.